In the telecommunications infrastructure, e.g. in computer networks, different applications often compete for use of data links having limited available bandwidth to transmit multiple data messages to a single receiving computer. Processing power of the receiving computer may also be heavily loaded by the need to process different messages of incoming data. In many networks such as the Internet, the priority in use of the limited bandwidth and/or the limited processing power of the receiving computer is often determined on a first come first serve basis. That is higher speed computers which have a higher speed data path to the computer (e.g. dial up server) which is one data link away from the destination (client) computer, will tend to monopolize the link to the client computer. Consequently, the dominant use of data link bandwidth, and processing power of the client computer, may not conform to the priorities of the client user.
A current example of this problem is the situation for home users of the Internet. It is often the case that an Internet user is interested in conducting multiple downloads at the same time. For example, a user may click a link to download one or more files from a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) site, and then wish to continue browsing the World Wide Web (WWW) using his web browser which requires Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) downloads. Unfortunately, the FTP requests may use a large fraction of the available bandwidth leaving a small portion available for the HTTP messages, so that consequently, the response time of the user's web browser to navigation inputs is greatly increased. The user may consider the download a low priority, and prefer to have enhanced response time to WWW navigation inputs.
The user may be connected to the Internet by a relatively slow digital modem, or a fast cable modem or fast Digital Subscriber Line (DSL). In any case, the speed of the source computers and the speed of the transmission path between the source computers and the node to which the user's computer is connected (e.g. the Internet Service Provider (ISP) dial-up server) will determine which source computer dominates the use of the final link to the user's computer. Although, all delays are reduced in the case of a fast link, the delay becomes appreciable again, in the case of much larger file transfers, which can be expected to be common place in the near future given the growing interest in multimedia uses of the Internet.
The percentage of the available bandwidth used by two different applications may also be affected by the format of the messages sent. For example, other factors being equal an application which sends large data blocks will use more bandwidth.
In the case of two data messages coming from the same computer there may be a default prioritization which is not to the liking of the user.
For example this can happen to a user who connects to a private network for the purpose of sending or checking email. At login, some systems check various information files on the client computer and if any are found to be outdated, initiates downloading of updated files. This too, can use up a large portion of the available bandwidth, and slow down the response of the system to user initiated requests.
There is a need for a system in which the user can control the bandwidth used by one or more applications, in order to reserve a remainder portion of the bandwidth for use by other applications.